Media Post had another disturbing story about the shrinking conventional media world with three sports/entertainment magazines…the highly regarded Best Life, along with Travel and Leisure Golf and Tennis Week all going down for the count. While that crosses more “traditional” places off the pitch list, the opportunities to place and populate news stories, and compelling activation and feature pieces still are there for those who can place effectively. Still there are the issues of how to place, and Tom Hoffrath in the LA Daily News has a great piece on the “flavor of the month” method many are trying to get noticed with their brands, without ever understanding who and what they are pitching. The piece talks about the “Twitter jitters,” with niche leagues and athletes all rushing to tell how their athletes are hip and cool by using Twitter or other social networking tools to communicate with fans. The funny thing is that those who are doing the pitching have little to no CONVENTIONAL contact with the media they are trying to pitch, and in their rush for “cool” placement the story idea gets lost. Even in today's technology crazy world, the same basic principles for placement apply.
1- Know the person you are pitching: Try placing a call, dropping a personal note, or READING what the media person has written lately. Lots of times a little understanding goes a long way.
2- Make sure you have a story: Just because an entire team is turned on to Facebook, or a coaching staff loves text messaging, or a brand is using their website to market, doesn’t make it a story for most writers. As Tom Hanks said in the movie “Big” when looking at brands of toys made by nameless marketers… “What's Cool About Tha.” If its not unique, it would have been like in the “old days” saying X All-Star is hip because he is using a cell phone. Not compelling. Sell the personality, not the gadget.
3- If you are pitching, give them a reason to use it: Go writer by writer to find a story idea…if it doesn’t work move on…but spamming a whole list with “exclusive” ideas is a waste of their time and probably yours.
4- Ask Questions: Media are people too. Take the time to ask them what they think of the story, and if it doesn’t work for them, ask why and maybe they will suggest someone else. Don’t be afraid to be a little personal. in a time when media are victims of shrinking outlets and many athletes are breaking controlled news through their choice of avenues, treating people as people can go a long way.
5- Don’t Mercilessly Spam: Even for this blog, people are sending me press releases now about “new and great” or “best ever.” Now mass emails for news stories are important for all…but for a feature, take the time to personalize and explain why. Machine gum approaches can kill ever the best story.
Some other good reads…the Financial Times has a good piece on Manchester's elevation in the sports world… the Bergen Record has a good profile of agent Mark Lepselter …and the Daily Telegraph has a look at Liverpool's issues to stay competitive in the EPL.
